3rd September Chasing Elizabeth (in my dreams)


No, it is not the name of some new must watch blockbuster about to be released onto our TV screens  Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + or even Channel 5. Rather it is my intermittant rivalry with 'Elizabeth' a fellow runner from one of the local clubs here in Nottingham.

Rivaling Coe vs Ovett, Johnson vs Lewis, and the often outlandishly violent tussle between the Road Runner and Wile E Coyote, the battle between the running Rev and 'Elizabeth' has travelled the globe or at least the Peak District, over a variety of distances and terrains. Yesterday saw the latest encounter at the Great Longstone Chase fell run. And let me be clear in my chase to keep up with 'Eizabeth' I had no intention of falling.

I last ran here in 2019 and came in almost 3 mins behind Elizabeth, this time it was my aim to be her very shadow around the 4.5mile course that contained almost 800ft of ascent. That's a lot of up in case you're wondering. And so on the B of the bang we, alongside 198 others, were off with a good 25 mins or so of steady climbing out of the village until we reached the high point.

And it was the sound of the B of the bang that woke me up from my dream of being able to stay anywhere near 'Elizabeth' who whilst not the tallest runner in the world, makes up for what she lacks in height with the speed that her little legs move. She was running powered by Duracells, I was running as if powered by a battery mad from a potato and after one lap of the cricket field she was already ahead of me and would remain so for the rest of the race.

By the time we reached the first major 'thank God we can have a rest' style we had to negotiate, I was already so far behind there wasn't even a queue waiting to climb over it so there was noexcuse to rest. It was only the sight of 10 or more hot air ballons suddenly appearing over the crest of the final summit that kept me moving over the rest of the course that could best be described as undulating.

I'd like to say that my reduced performance (I ended up 5 mins slower that 3 years ago) was due to the effects of Covid or the Pint and Pork Scratchings run on Tuesday but as TOM pointed out its more likely to be due to the effects of old age. Perhaps is simply time to find a new nemesis to run against. A slow one.

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